xp_logs | Afterlife: Farewell Serenade

Klara puts Roman's ghost to rest and inherits his guitar in the process.

It had taken time and effort to track down the objects that bound each ghost here, but finally the New Mutants' efforts had prevailed. Klara presented the beat up electric guitar to Roman. Years ago, the prospect of approaching a ghost would have been terrifying. She had since learned that they weren't really that frightening. A nuisance, perhaps, but nothing to be feared.
"Here you are, Roman," she said, offering the guitar. "I hope this will bring you peace."

"Ramona!" Roman's face lit up and his incorporeal fingers caressed the strings. "You did it, Flower Girl, you really did it!"
"It took some time and working together with my friends, but yes," Klara said with a slight smile. Roman's entire era was lost on her, aside from what she had read in books. "Was there anything else that you wanted?"

"Oh no, Flower Girl, you don't get to gift and run. You need to hear my baby sing." Roman took the guitar into his lap, hovering slightly above the dresser. "My groupie gets a show."

Given the state 'Ramona' was in, Klara had her doubts about how well Roman's baby would sing. Still, she had been raised to be polite. If listening to Roman play his guitar was what would give him peace, listening to the less than dulcet tones of a broken electric guitar for a while was a small sacrifice to make.

"All right." She nodded and watched silently, waiting for the ghost to start his last performance.

He seemed a bit surprised at the ready acquiescence and looked down to his guitar, plucking the strings and testing their tune. Where strings were missing, he plucked anyway, the sound ringing out with a slight echo. "My poor lady, what did they do to you?" he murmured to the guitar as he worked to get it back in tune. "Never mind, Daddy's here now."

Klara took a seat while Roman tuned the guitar. It seemed odd that he could play strings that weren't there, but then...Roman's presence itself was an oddity. She supposed it wasn't worth questioning the metaphysical too much. Some things had to be taken with a leap of faith instead of skepticism.

Finally satisfied, Roman settled back and strummed an A chord. "I think you'll like this one, Flower Girl," he said with a slight smile. "A lady friend of mine wrote it, back when she visited Honolulu." And then, clearing his throat a little, he began to play and sing:

"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot..."

Klara listened attentively as Roman sang. He and Romana did sound better than she had expected, and she could have sworn she did hear this song on the radio before. She couldn't remember the name of the song, though the melody and words were semi-familiar.

"They took all the trees
Put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot."

As he sang, Roman's form began to become more transparent, his voice and the guitar taking on a slight echo.

Klara had made a habit to keep seeds on her as she became more comfortable with her powers, particularly with there being some people around with anti-mutant sentiments. She would not harm people, but she would defend herself and her friends. The roses responded best to her - they always had.

Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew a rose seed. She didn't know if it would help to bring Roman peace, but she didn't think it could hurt. She softly whispered an instruction to the seed to grow, careful not to interrupt Roman's performance. As he continued through his song that lamented the loss of natural habitat, a small rose bush bloomed in her hand.

At the sight of the rose, Roman broke into a smile, even as he sang the next verse and went into the chorus one last time.:

"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot."

The song ended with a small bluesy flourish - Roman showing off - and then the ghost stood. "Thank you, Flower Girl, you and your friends. You did good by this old rocker." He held out an increasingly transparent hand to her.

Klara held out her hand and brought it up to meet Roman's. It didn't look as though she would be able to shake Roman's hand in this state, but the gesture was more important than the actual act of doing so, right?

Even though he couldn't touch her, he cupped his hand around hers and then bent and kissed the back of it, a slight chill brushing her skin. "Thank you, my lady," he said with a grin and a slightly wicked glint to his eyes. "Keep on rockin', Flower Girl. Take care of Ramona for me."

And with that, he was gone, the guitar resting on the floor where he had been.

Klara's eyes went wide when the ghost kissed the back of her hand. She inclined her head politely - the only response she could think of given the circumstances. It seemed respectful. Kneeling down, she picked Ramona up slowly. She supposed it could be a souvenir...or perhaps she could get the guitar fixed up a little and get some guitar lessons.